Industry Research: Confessions From a Former HR Executive

Let me be frank. When the world was literally turned upside down and set on fire in 2020, I was so happy I was no longer in HR. The challenges and responsibilities that HR leaders
routinely endure and continue to face with limited resources, and the almost institutionalized criticism and skepticism they constantly undergo, were all hugely exacerbated by the pandemic, economic uncertainty, and social upheaval of 2020.

It’s important to recognize this because each of us who cares about the employee experience, and especially those of us who are working in or came out of HR, are on a journey that is formed out of our collective past and our view of the future — to change, evolve, drive inclusion, and live as humans in a society rather than in fiefdoms. This journey requires critical thinking, inference, listening, and learning. It’s time to truly and authentically bring the human back to HR and find the resources to help and educate humans to find a better way.

For starters, let’s reflect on the three lessons we learned along the way over the past year or more and see how they offer us a compass to point the way forward.

Covid-19 and the social and political turmoil of 2020 reinforced that we are clearly a divided society in extreme ways. So how do we work together, how do we build, how do we move forward when in every direction we turn we see a stark Mason-Dixon Line in front of us? It begins with not assuming and instead simply asking. Most important, it starts with listening. By asking questions, we begin to tap into the many unknowns of our current perspectives and identify why people think, reason, and make decisions the way they do. If we’re going to change, we as people need to learn. As an HR professional, you have a tremendous opportunity to bring your learning to the forefront, to show the best path forward rather than react to the road you’ve been forced into traveling.

One thing 2020 taught us is that short-term thinking doesn’t work — that we're all in this new world picking up shards from everywhere around us just to survive. The only way the pieces will fit together is through the work we do and by educating one another. And it begins with conversations because they will lead us to the long-term strategy.

So, HR leader, get your people to learn how to talk to each other and play the long game of evolution and change. How? For starters, focus your budget on developing your employees all of your employees. We can no longer offer the path to learning to high-potential employees and new managers. It needs to be democratized and offered to everyone.

Another lesson learned in 2020 is that on the one hand, capitalism and democracy are far apart, and on the other hand, they convoluted each other to serve a very small sliver of our nation. So what does this big statement mean to HR professionals? It’s a sign to start small and simple to achieve big rewards later. How exactly can you do that? Stand your ground.

As an HR professional, you’re really hired to do two things (which are also completely convoluted):
 

HR professionals have made choices to go either one way or the other — be democratic or capitalist. Try to do it for everyone or try to do it for the few. But HR needs to be both, and it needs to bring them together. It starts with standing your ground. It starts with fighting for basic rights, benefits, education, and policies that drive inclusion and provide a safe,
supportive environment with constant learning in which people can grow. What among your budget items will:
 

The last thing we learned in 2020 is what happens when we refuse to change. Change is difficult for anyone, and especially when it comes out of the blue. Case in point: masks.
Imagine if everyone in the country wore a mask when they were supposed to. If they did, we wouldn’t be leading the world in infection rates.

As HR professionals, it falls to us to educate people to understand and communicate about change. We know this. We know we need to help ourselves and managers:
 

So, the question isn’t, what do we need to do? The question is, why do we make it so damned painful along the way? The incredibly important trend toward upskilling and reskilling people is taking hold and an example of where change management is critical.

As an HR professional, you can arm yourself and your organization with what you need to drive engagement in upskilling and reskilling through change management if you get a good handle on two things: the basics of what the change is and the impacts and long-term implications that are sure to occur if people refuse to change.

And know this: Change management isn’t fluff. Just like we’re still reminded of Covid-19 every day, each day brings us an opportunity to better manage change. As an HR professional, that means not only educating yourself and others on change principles. It means driving it home throughout your organization — through inclusive hiring processes, every promotion, any termination, each performance review, all of your benefit and wellness plans, and especially in all of your learning and development programs.

Looking back, 2020 was a mirror for everything that has not been right in the world, in organizations, and in our society for a long time. It woke us up to the reality that what we as
HR leaders have done in the past didn’t work then and sure as hell won’t work for our future.

You have a very real opportunity to seize the day and bring balance back to your organization. You can start by reassessing your budget, leaning into constant learning, and promoting better and more widespread change management.